Is this racism

[prettyprettyflowers]

Very senior manager was told off by HR for doing a mocking Chinese accent when talking about a trip to a Chinese restaurant in a senior meeting.
She then recounts story with same accent in different meeting as well as how funny it was HR told her off for it.

It Bothers me. But am I the only one?

You don't have to hate people for something to be racism. Stereotypes, even 'positive' ones can be damaging. Because they reduce people to one characteristic.

Stereotypes: Black people are allowed to be good at dancing, sex and athletics but not science or maths. Chinese people the exact opposite. White people get to be individuals. Not just one representative of their race or ethnicity.

That's why there's frequently one 'token' woman or PoC in ensemble films. You don't need more because we're 'all the same'. But white men are various and interesting so you need a few of them.

Oh goody. Its quite a while since I found something to be offended about, then you came along. Thanks ever so much. Meanwhile, there are real issues to be bothered about.

Have none of you saying it's racist ever mimicked an accent? Never ever?

My 9yo DD puts on a very bad scottish accent because she loves the way it sounds. Does that make her racist?

I have a South African accent and people mimic me as well (and btw, there is nothing worse than a badly mimicked SA accent). I am not offended, I laugh and tell them they sound awful and life carries on. Some people are so touchy.

Surely the definition of racism is 'treating someone less favourably because of their race'? It used to be 'incitement to hatred' because of their race. No Chinese people were present so no one was treated less favourably, or incited to hate Chinese people.

In the example quoted by prettypretty, isn't it a bit complimentary to be called exotic? I don't know that sweet potatoes are exotic though!

Yes. It is racist.

My 9yo DD puts on a very bad scottish accent because she loves the way it sounds. Does that make her racist? I imagine she's absolutely hilarious Why do you encourage this?

OK I admit, my son does a range of accents.
He does Birmingham, Black Country, West Wales farmer, South Wales gym goer, South London junkie, MLE, Somali Londoner, Glasgow, etc
In fact he wants to be an actor...
but he doesn't do them to take the piss in front of people...

oh he also does 'Angry Black London woman with roots in West Africa'...
However he only does people that he has actually met.

My neighbour tells negro jokes. I just laugh, some people are so touchy.
That si sarcasm in case you didn't realise.

Ah, I've just 'got' @bridgetoc's posting name 😁

Racism is complicated. And dealing with complicated issues that affect people requires a bit more thought than 'stop being a snowflake' or 'if it's a positive stereotype it's totes OK'.

Fish don't see the water they swim in and we don't see our own culture, which is built on colonialism and racism. I know it's much easier to get a bit peeved and tell people to shut up about racism, but the small, everyday things make the terrible things more possible.

I'm going to go full Godwin here but the Nazis didn't start with gas chambers. They started with propaganda. Gentiles saying that the Jewish people were too good at finance and that they looked after their own... Stereotypes and reducing people to character traits. Dehumanising them. Jewish art and music were too decadent. Intelligent Jewish people forcing Germans out of jobs. And yes, taking the piss out of their (supposed) appearance and speech patterns.

The same is not true when someone thinks it's funny to say 'innit' because I'm from South London.

How does a ‘South Wales gym goer’ accent differ from a regular South Wales accent FourFried?!

not sure , but that is his character when he is in south Walian mode...butt..

Posters: my friend / relative / all people with funny accents think it totes hilarious when people take the piss outlet of their accent

People with regional / foreign accents: its a ball ache, we just pretend to find it funny but don't say anything, even if it's not about race we still don't like people taking the piss

Posters: you're all hypersensitive snowflakes it's funny

IMO it's not racist to imitate an accent

But it is racist to imitate one in a mocking way

If she was being derogatory then definitely racist

Also very concerning she hasn't grasped what she was told by HR in the slightest or taken it seriously

So someone did her the favour of speaking in her native language and her reaction is to mock them? Cool, next time they can speak in Chinese to the racist twunt.

Yes it’s offensive.

I get it at me all the time. I’m Japanese, not Chinese.

But then, all of us “slanty eyed, dog eating chinks” are all the same.

IMO it's not racist to imitate an accent It is. Don't do it. Thanks.

@derxa I don't. I get it done to me. I've moved away from my home town, picked up a different dialect - I go home and get my accent imitated.

I can't call it racism as we are the same race the people I'm talking about. I was born in the same city. I'm the same colour and I haven't changed race by picking up another dialect

If it's done mockingly to a person of a different race of course it's racism.

Yes, it’s racist. Your colleague is also unprofessional and arrogant to have gone against HR advice.

Those who say it’s not racist, I find, are usually the ones who don’t experience racism on a regular basis.

I get “Konichiwa” or “Ni Hao” a lot too. I just turn around and say “Good morning” or “Just say hello.” That usually stops them in their tracks and one person even looked down, shame faced, after I said that.

I’m Chinese and when people meet me for the first time, they are usually surprised that I don’t have an accent at all. Why would I? I’ve only lived in the UK for over 30 years FFS.

I speak French and I used to have people mimic my English accent when I was living in France (in the early 1990s). I didn't particularly like it, it was rude, but I accepted it. French people also used to refer to British people as 'Les Roast Beef', I don't know whether they still do, but probably. (Probably on the same level as British people referring to French people as 'Froggies').

I've never seen it as racist, because both are White European, but it's certainly very rude and insulting. I think we do need to be careful about the use of the word 'racist', otherwise its meaning could be watered down.

Mimicking a Chinese accent in this country would always be racist, however, because of the history.

Don't know about raciest but it is offensive. Remember that people who speak English with an accent speak more than 2 languages. I
Assume this lady does not speak Chinese.

I can’t help putting on accents as I read threads like these.

In my head, the majority of PP are smug, white southerners who hide any regional inflections with a veneer of RP.

It would be a shame if it was never acceptable to mimic accents, as regional variations are fascinating, I'm speaking as a trained linguist here. Not just with English, either, French speakers mimic regional accents as well. I think it all depends on the context imo, if the purpose is to belittle and cause offence then it's clearly wrong.

Lizzie, this isn't about mimicking regional accents though. The person in the op was mocking the Chinese person's accent as if to imply the way they were speaking was odd or inferior to a native English speaker.